This set of two activities are about Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Learners will listen to a narrative "told" by the Huygens probe, entitled Memoirs of a Spacecraft. Next, students will listen to some of the findngs and express those findings by...(View More) creating their own drawing. Finally they will pretend to be a spacecraft and write a story, poem or song about their journey to Titan. Includes a glossary, information for families, and guidance for deepening the science. This is lesson 6 of 8 in the Jewel of the Solar System: From Out-of-School to Outer Space an adaptation for afterschool programs of the Cassini-Huygens educational product Reading, Writing, and Rings.(View Less)

This kick-off activity sets the stage for further explorations and activities in Explore! To the Moon and Beyond! - a resource developed specifically for use in libraries. As a group, learners will discuss what they know about Earth's Moon. They...(View More) read books to learn more about the lunar environment and history of exploration. They use their knowledge to create a drawing or model of the landscape (optional).(View Less)

In this activity, students identify habitats in Arizona, define and illustrate a food web in a kinesthetic exercise, and explain the importance of biodiversity in a writing assignment. Required materials include a ball of yarn or string. The...(View More) resource includes two student worksheets, a data sheet, answer keys, and Web links. This is Lesson 1 in the unit on Biodiversity, part of IMAGERS, Interactive Media Adventures for Grade School Education using Remote Sensing. The website provides hands-on activities in the classroom supporting the science content in two interactive media books, The Adventures of Echo the Bat and Amelia the Pigeon.(View Less)

Using a color chart, students will make observations outside during each of the four seasons. During each session, they will try to find as many colors as possible and record what they see. As a class they will make charts describing the colors they...(View More) find in each season. At the end of the school year, students will compare their results and generate conclusions about variations in colors in nature both within a season and between different seasons. This is the 2nd of 3 sets of learning activities that are part of a unit on seasons that are companion activities to the Elementary GLOBE children's book, Mystery of the Missing Hummingbirds. Includes a teacher implementation guide. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.(View Less)

Each student will explore three activities that promote understanding of and respect for soil. They will generate responses to the following questions: "What makes up soil?" and "What lives in the soil?" Next the students will watch a demonstration...(View More) of how much soil there is on Earth that is available for human use. Last they will create their own soil connection sentences. Uses commonly-available or inexpensive materials (e.g., chart paper, markers, apple). This is the 3rd of 3 sets of learning activities that are companion activities to the Elementary GLOBE children's book, The Scoop on Soils. Includes a teacher implementation guide. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.(View Less)

This is an activity about ellipses, their focal points, and how the mathematics involved pertains to planetary orbits. Learners will draw their own ellipse using a string and pencil and calculate the minimum and maximum distance from the Sun for...(View More) each of the planets. This activity requires access to the Space Weather software and is Solar System Activity 5 in a larger resource, titled Space Update.(View Less)

In these activities, students continue to explore the idea of interaction among Earth components as they identify processes in the Earth system and indicate how they illustrate an interaction between two of the Earth system components. Uses commonly...(View More) available materials (e.g., markers, colored pencils, blank wall chart paper, overhead transparency sheets). This is the 2nd of 3 sets of learning activities that are companion activities to the Elementary GLOBE children's book, All About Earth: Our World on Stage. Includes a teacher implementation guide. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.(View Less)

This is a lesson about planet sizes. Learners will demonstrate the size (volume) differences between Earth, Earth’s Moon, and Mars. An extension to estimate the distance between the Earth and the Moon, and the Earth and Mars, using the scale of...(View More) the play dough planets' sizes is provided. Advance preparation of the play dough (recipie provided) is required. This is lesson 3 of 16 in the MarsBots learning module. It was adapted from 3-D Model of the Earth and Moon, an activity in The Universe at Your Fingertips.(View Less)

This is a lesson about robotic exploration of the solar system. Learners will review what they know and what they would like to know, and then revisit their (KWL) chart throughout the MarsBots learning module. This is lesson 9 of 16 in the MarsBots...(View More) learning module.(View Less)

In this activity, students engage in an ongoing investigation to find patterns of sunlight and shadow in a classroom (or any room that gets sunlight) at different times of the day and different times of the year. Students look for repeating...(View More) patterns, keep a log to describe and sketch observations of when and where certain easily recognized patters appear and turn the room into a solar calendar that may survive into the future for other classes to use. Part 1 of this activity requires occasional note-taking and casual observation over the course of a day. Part 2 requires 30-60 minutes to create the calendar record, then casual observation and note-taking throughout the school year. The lesson plan includes a math extension activity and background information about the Sun Dagger at Chaco Canyon. This activity is the third lesson in the Ancient Eyes Look to the Skies curriculum guide.(View Less)